Magistrate postpones ZCTU remand hearing on medical grounds

By Violet Gonda
03 October 2006

Lawyers representing 31 members and supporters of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) who were arrested last month successfully applied for a postponement of their remand hearing on medical grounds on Tuesday. A Harare magistrate William Bhila remanded the matter to 17 October. The magistrate also threw out a police reports on the torture of the ZCTU members saying it ‘held no water’ since the people who tortured them were investigating themselves.

The proceedings at the magistrate’s court got off to a slow start, with the accused waiting for over an hour for Mr Zvekare the state prosecutor from the Attorney General’s office to arrive, the ZCTU protesters were said to be in good spirits.

Senior labour leaders were assaulted while in police custody after being arrested and charged under Section 37 of the draconian Criminal and Codification Act, which deals with participating in illegal demonstrations.

But ZCTU 1 st Vice President Lucia Matibenga who was among the 15 officials who were allegedly tortured at Matapi police station said all three applications made by the defence team were granted by the magistrate, who also demanded a thorough investigation into the allegations of torture.

She said the matter was postponed because some of the victims were still not well; “particularly Moses Ngondo who has a broken leg and a broken arm and also Mr Chivara who had to be taken from hospital last night to enable him to attend court today. And also not leaving out our Secretary General (Wellington Chibhebhe) whose stitches were removed yesterday.”

The magistrate granted all the accused a relaxation of bail conditions as they were being made to report to the police every Friday. Matibenga and another colleague who suffered beatings while in police custody had to receive treatment at a Gauteng clinic trauma unit in South Africa, over a week ago, but had to return to Zimbabwe that same week as part of their bail conditions.

The defence team also made an application that the police at Matapi, who are accused of being responsible for the barbaric treatment of the ZCTU leadership, should be brought to court and investigated on allegations of torture. The magistrate is said to have emphasised the need for a thorough investigation into these reports. The investigations by the CID are expected to continue concurrently with the trial.

Observers have however raised concerns over the way the government, and in particular Robert Mugabe, responded to the manner in which the police treated the labour leaders. Mugabe was quoted in the state media absolving the police and publicly applauding them for torturing the union leaders. Asked whether they believed they will get a fair trial since the Head of State had made his position clear Matibenga said; “We are exonerated. We have always insisted that ZANU PF is a violent party and that Robert Mugabe as president of such a violent party was merely emphasising what his party stands for.”

She said what is also clear is that the regime is twisting facts to suit itself as the ZCTU officials obeyed the key orders that were given to them at the point of arrest. Matibenga said; “We were ordered to stop and we stopped. We were ordered to seat down on the tarmac and we sat down. We were then, thirdly, ordered on to a B18 van from the police dog section and we did go onto that truck and we were driven to Matapi.”

She said at no point did they disobey orders; “Apparently the president wants to imply and give an impression that we were beaten because we were resisting arrest. I am afraid, NO!”

The vice president reiterated that the labour body strongly subscribes to passive non-violent resistance and will continue to abide by this in their quest for democracy in Zimbabwe.